What Lies Beneath
by antica
Summary: A masked hero arrives to rid the village of an evil lord Kaoru finds herself falling in love with the man behind the mask. Who is he? Can they ever be together? Come for the magic, mystery, thrills, and romance, An AU fic.


**Title – What lies beneath.**

**Rating - G**

**Characters/Pairing – Kenshin/ Kaoru**

**Summary: A masked hero arrives to rid the village of an evil lord Kaoru finds herself falling in love with the man behind the mask. Who is he? Can they ever be together? Come for the magic, mystery, thrills, and romance, An AU fic.**

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The warm scent of magic and fresh cut grass surrounded the air, as young woman no older than 18 years of age sat in a crimson rocking chair on the porch of her medium sized house. She watched the cherry blossoms take their annual fall to the ground. The wind playing with her long raven hair tied up in a high ponytail. Her name was Kaoru Kamiya, an ordinary girl with an ordinary life living in an ordinary village that was located in meadow next to the Twin Mountains, ruled by a powerful yet cruel lord. 

Kaoru sighed remembering how cruelly Lord Raijuta treated the villagers. He used his wealth and his skills in magic to force himself in command and he made the people pay taxes regardless of their age, gender or occupation. The men worked in his gold mines and their pay was just barely enough to buy a loaf of bread and a small bucket of water and anyone who dared to complain or come against lord Raijuta, would be first be choked to death slowly and painfully by one of Raijuta death spells then hung his body in the town square as a reminder to anyone who would even think of stepping forth.

Until one day, Kaoru had laid her eyes on the bravest man to have ever lived in her village. He wasn't the tallest man she had seen, only a bit taller than herself, and he wore a white hakama with a black gi. His hair was the most beautiful shade of red tied in a low ponytail at the nape of his neck and cascaded to his waist. His face however was unknown.

He wore a mask, a black mask to be precise, and it covered his entire face save the eye holes. She always had been curious about the colors of his eyes, but up until now, she had never caught glimpse of them. Kaoru's mind began to remember the first time the red head hero cam to appose Raijuta.

**Flashback**

**Kaoru was on her weekly grocery shopping trip when a loud crash startled her; she turned towards the noise only to find Raijuta on his black horse towering over a man in his late twenties. Kaoru slowly began to walk closer to them, trying to hear what was going on.**

"**You dare steal from the great Raijuta, do you have a death wish?" yelled one of guards as he slapped the poor man. He tried to get up but the guards yanked him back under Raijuta's horse.**

"**Please my lord……..I only wanted to get some medicines for my mother….she is gravely ill and-"**

"**SILENCE" yelled Raijuta cutting off the poor man "you will die now" he raised his hand held it his palm towards the man's neck.**

**_The choking spell, no….I won't allow this to happen….someone has to stand up to them"_ thought Kaoru as she stepped in between the man and Raijuta, not thinking of the consequences that might follow.**

"**Stop this" she yelled stopping Raijuta from completing the spell.**

"**What is this? Get out of the way girl" yelled Raijuta **

"**No…this has to stop….I won't allow you to inflict more pain to the villagers……obviously why this man had to resort to stealing is because of the low wages you give and the high taxes you charge...how do you expect them to live" she said standing firm in her position.**

"**Oh and you are going to stop me? Don't make me laugh" laughed Raijuta; soon a crowd began to form around the scene.**

"**I may not be strong enough to beat you…..I may not have enough magic to stop you…..but I do know that someone has to stand up to you sooner or later" she yelled.**

"**Then so be it……..you will die with him" said Raijuta murmuring a spell**

**Kaoru was suddenly lifted off the ground and was hung a few feet in midair, she hands went around an invisible rope wrapped around her neck to prevent it from strangling her, but she could already feel her strength weakening as the rope tightened around her neck, but she felt no regrets, no sadness, just happiness that she is going to die trying to help one of her villagers people.**

**The next thing she knew, a blur of red and black appeared in front of her then suddenly the rope around her neck broke loose and she began to fall back to the ground. She closed her eyes and waited for the impact. It never came; instead she felt a pair of strong arms around her, preventing her from her fall. She heard some gasps from the crowd and slowly lifted he eyes to gaze upon her savior.**

**Red hair, muscular body, a sword in his belt, and his arms wrapped around her and carrying her in bridal style, Kaoru blushed as she felt his warmth emitting from beneath the black gi he was wearing. The only thing she didn't see was his face concealed in his black mask. They were still flouting a few feet in the air and Kaoru guessed that he must have used a levitation spell to do it.**

"**Are you alright?" the stranger asked her huskily.**

"**Ummm……yes….but….who are you?" she answered as he lowered them back to earth and set her back on her feet.**

"**A friend" he simply answered turning his attention to Raijuta. "Please stay back Miss….this could get dangerous"**

"**Who the hell are you?" yelled Raijuta **

"**They call me Battousai….and I am the man who will make an end to your filthy days as a ruler here"**

"**_Battousai? That sounds like a nickname….I wonder who he really is"_ thought Kaoru as she began to head back into the front of the crowd as Battousai told her so.**

"**You? I would like to see you try…attack me if you could" challenged Raijuta climbing down from his horse.**

"**With pleasure" said Battousai before suddenly disappearing from sight.**

**Kaoru gasped as she tried to search the whereabouts of Battousai, she knew that he had used magic make himself disappear like that. A very powerful form of magic, even more powerful that Raijuta.**

**The next thing she knew, Raijuta was pinned to the ground with 6 ninja stars that had appeared on his clothing after he was hit from behind by Battousai with the dull side of the sword he was carrying.**

"**Damn it……what are you?" cursed Raijuta.**

"**As I said before……my name is Battousai….and I will be protecting these people and give them the justice they deserve…..so know this Raijuta…for as long as I am alive I will never allow you to hurt these people ever again," said Battousai as he disappeared from sight.**

**End of flashback**

And from that instant Kaoru found herself longing for Battousai's appearances everyday, which he always did whenever Raijuta tried anything towards the villagers. As always he manages to save the day, becoming very popular among the people. Whenever he appeared there was always a crowd cheering him on and Kaoru was always in front of those crowds.

One day during one of matches with Raijuta, one of the guards was able to injure battousai's right arm and Kaoru realized that she was afraid for him; afraid that he might loose. But he was able to heal himself in time with a quick healing potion he carried.

After that day, Kaoru discovered that she had fallen in love with him, attracted to his muscular form and adored his braveness and his belief in fighting for others even though it would be his death if he was ever captured.

"_His mask"_ how she longed to gaze at the face behind the mask, to see what he looked like, how his features were, how he looks like when he smiles, oh the possibilities.

Though his mask hid his identity, Kaoru felt that to more than that, she could see it whenever he's in a battle. The want to live a normal life but cannot put down his duty to protect others, and guilt of what, she doesn't know.

Kaoru suddenly remembered that she promised her friend Tae she would pick up some groceries for her since she is too busy with her new twin sons.

She walked into her room and changed into a crimson kimono with gold dragons embedded in it, tied her hair in a crimson ribbon then murmured a spell to place a light blush on her cheeks and thin eyeliner. She wasn't an expert in magic, quite the opposite; she could only do simple practical spells that are little things compared with other spells. She grabbed her basket and headed towards the market place.

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Kaoru placed her purchases inside the basket, which already contains other food supplies.

"_That was my last stop…..I'll go over to Tae right now and give her a hand with the babies"_ she thought as she began to walk towards her friends house when she noticed two senior citizens down on their knees in front of none other than Raijuta himself.

"Please my lord, I promise that I will pay the taxes fully next week" the old man begged.

"I won't take them."

"What" the old man, woman and Kaoru were surprised with that statement.

"There isn't really much point is there…you already look half dead anyway so I will just go ahead and end your miserable life" said Raijuta as he began to raise his arm to use a double chock spell when from out of nowhere, a medium sized pot came flying towards his hand, disturbing the spell

"Battousai? You dare challenge me again? Where are you?" yelled Raijuta as he began to scan the crowd for the masked samurai.

"Battousai isn't here…I was the one who threw the pot" said Kaoru stepping forth from the crowd.

"You again…I remember you from last month, when the Battousai first came out"

"You've stooped to a whole new level Raijuta….harassing old citizens now...I won't allow you to touch them."

"And how are going to stop me"

"I will pay for their taxes…how much do they owe you?"

Raijuta stared at the brave woman in front of him, as a thought passed his mind; he smirked as he began to advance towards her.

"So you will pay?"

"Yes…..what is he price for their taxes?" she asked.

"You want to know? I tell you" he said as he grasped her chin and wrist and whispered his price in her ear.

"WHAT?" yelled Kaoru; there is no way she is going to do that.

"You know you're a pretty one and feisty…..I'm sure going to have fun with you" said Raijuta as he tightened his hold on her wrist.

"Let me go…I am not a whore"

"You will be when I'm done with you" said Raijuta as tried to yank her towards his horse but Kaoru kicked him in the groin making him release her.

But before could get far, Raijuta yelled out a spell, which resulted in chains wrapped around Kaoru's wrists and neck while the other part was in Raijuta's hands.

"Now maybe you will cooperate" said Raijuta as he roughly began to tug on the chain making Kaoru follow behind him.

"Let me go" said Kaoru as she tried to struggle but with no use.

"Please sir, she doesn't have anything to do with this let her go" begged the old woman.

"Silence…..a deal's a deal….she shouldn't have butted in from the first place" yelled Raijuta as he continued to drag Kaoru away.

"_Please help me"_

The chain suddenly snapped by a sword from what Kaoru was make out, the sudden release made Kaoru fall back to the ground and bum her head, making her loss consciousness.

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Her vision blurred as her eyes began to flutter open, her mind has already registered that she was lying on something soft, and it was defiantly not her bed. She blinked a few times to adjust to the lighting of the room, when her vision cleared; all she saw was a rocky ceiling above her.

Kaoru suddenly shot out of bed, regretting it when her head shot of pain and began to throb, she remembered what happened in the market, and Raijuta had a chain around her and was dragging her way, probably to his bed.

"_Is this HIS bed?"_ thought Kaoru as she began to panic, but calmed down when she noticed that she was still dressed.

Kaoru eyes began to wonder though the room, scanning its contents; from her surroundings she could tell that it is a cave. She continued to scan the cave until she stopped at a usual sight. Battousai was sitting a few feet away from her, his mask still in place, in front a pot on a fire, he seemed to know that she was awake when he raised his eyes to meet hers and for the first time, Kaoru managed to see that his eyes were pure purple, with swirls of gold in them. She was so lost her thoughts that she didn't hear him come towards her until he pushed a hot cup in her hands.

"Drink….it will help with your head" he said as he sat at on a chair next to the bed.

"t-thank you" said Kaoru as she raised the cup to her lips and took a drink, it tasted somewhat like honey and mint but Kaoru could tell that there was a hint of magic in it.

"Where are we?" she asked

"In my home, I brought you here after you passed out" he answered. "We will have to check those marks for you….wait for me and I will get some medicine for it" he said as he got up and disappeared to the other side of the cave.

"_Oh my god………I'm here…..in Battousai's hideout….with him….oh my god"_ she thought as she raised her hand to touch the burn mark in her neck wincing when she did so. _"It was sweet of him to bring me here….and tend to my wounds….I should really thank him"_

Kaoru was so into her thoughts that she didn't notice that Battousai had come back and sat on the edge of the bed, the movement made Kaoru snap out of her thoughts as she at him as he dipped a rag into a strange concoction and pressed it on her neck, then left it there as he wrapped some bandages around it, keeping it in place and did the same with her wrists.

"My pleasure"

An awkward silence fell upon the couple.

"What happened after I passed out?" asked Kaoru.

"I managed to kill the guards that were harassing the seniors, however, that bastard Raijuta managed to get away; after he did I carried you here and waited for you to wake" explained Battousai.

"Oh….thank you for saving them Battousai-san"

"just Battousai please and actually I think they should thank you….after all you were the one who stepped in and defended them"

"I only did what I thought was right"

"You always seem to…I remember that you got in trouble helping a man one that day that I first came here" he smiled amusedly by seeing the silent blush forming on Kaoru's cheeks.

"You still remember that?"

"Yes…..I admire the way you seem to always want to help others"

"You are pretty amazing yourself….ummm….I admire and….. Well am fond of you…..for wanting to protect the villagers despite the consequences" she blushed afraid that she has said too much to reveal her feelings.

"I guess we have a lot in common then"

"If you don't mind me asking, why do you wear a mask?" asked Kaoru as she lowered her eyes to the cup in her hands.

"Well; It would be obvious….I wouldn't want Raijuta to know how I am" he answered

"No…I believe that is part of the reason" she said

"oh…and what is the other reason" she said head still bowed, "every time I see you fight your ki is always filled the want of living a normal life, but your duty draws you in giving up that and fight for the villagers to bring them justice…that once your work is done, you can take off the mask and live normally without people ever knowing who you were" explained Kaoru

Battousai just sat there, astound of the fact that the woman in front of him managed to get very deeply into his ki.

"What else do you feel?" asked Battousai

"I also feel guilt emitting from you ki a lot whenever you fight with the guards especially…..but why you feel that I don't know"

Another awkward silence had fallen on the couple, until Kaoru heard a chuckle from the man in front of her.

"What's so funny?"

"I'm sorry….I'm just laughing at the fact as how one woman can see that deep into my ki…..I'm very impressed." He said earning another blush from Kaoru. "Would you like some fresh air?" he asked.

"Yes….I would like that" said Kaoru

"Then lets go" said Battousai standing up and holding his hand out for Kaoru to take.

Kaoru slowly placed her hand in his, allowing him to gently pull her to her feet and lead her towards the darker side of the cave.

"_Odd……it is usually the brighter side of the cave that leads to an exit"_ thought Kaoru as she blushed feeling the heat of Battousai's hand on hers.

Battousai continued to lead Kaoru deeper and deeper into the cave until they reached a dead end, Kaoru was about to ask but snapped her mouth shut when Battousai took hold of a gold pendant in the shape of a dragon twisting it's body onto a sword. It pressed it on the wall making it shake and move to the side, opening an exit for them. Kaoru eyes widened at the view.

It was a field. A beautiful green field with wildflowers growing on the green grass, a river flowed on the side and down to a magical waterfall. Which gave an amazing site of the village below them; it didn't take long for Kaoru to realize that they were up in the Twin Mountains.

"Kami- sama….it's so beautiful Battousai" said Kaoru as he stepped out of the cave and inhaled the fresh air.

"Kenshin"

"Huh?"

"My true name is Kenshin Himura….I want you to call me by that name" said Kenshin.

"Kenshin…….it's the same meaning to her pendant……..Kenshin" Kaoru tested his name, and found that she liked it, she felt happy that Kenshin trusted her with his real name. "My name is Kaoru Kamiya"

"Kaoru……it's a very beautiful name…..it suits you" Kenshin complimented.

"Thank you" Kaoru whispered as she began to feel a blush coming on.

Kaoru was suddenly started by a noise coming behind her; she turned around only to gaze upon a herd of wild horses running towards the river, led by a big black mustang. When the herd stopped for rest the mustang made its way towards them, it stood in front of Kaoru, studying her.

"His name is Blaze" said Kenshin walking up to Blaze ands petting its muzzle, the horse seemed to recognize Kenshin and happily accepted his touch.

"Do all of the horses belong to you?" she asked.

"No…just Blaze….but the others came to accept him as a leader and they know I'm not a threat" answered Kenshin "say hello to Kaoru, Blaze"

Blaze made his way towards Kaoru, he started at her for a moment studying her eyes, he must have found out that she was a friend when he began nuzzle his head in her neck making Kaoru giggle.

"Nice to meet you too Blaze….giggle hey that tickles" said Kaoru was he ranked her fingers through Blaze's black mane.

"You know…..Blaze is the one I ride whenever I go to the village as Battousai" said Kenshin walked towards them and patted Blaze's back gently.

"Really? I always thought….." Kaoru trailed off when she realized how naïve she was for thinking that Kenshin would walk all the way home.

"Of course not…I may be a hero in the village but I am still human" laughed Kenshin as he read her thoughts.

"Oh…sorry about that" said Kaoru blushing.

"Do you know why you always sense guilt in my ki?"

"No"

"It's because every time I stop Raijuta from hurting someone, I end up killing at least two of his men, I never liked killing and I feel guilt whenever I take a life, taking something that precious with such ease."

"but you do it so that the people would live peacefully….you kill for the sake of a better life of the villagers….it not your fault that the guards chose to live that way……..and the villagers praise you for giving them the hope that they want"

Another awkward silence between them.

"Kaoru"

"Yes?"

"What would you say if I asked you for your hand in marriage?"

Kaoru was dumbstruck, the man she loved actually asked her to marry her, parts of her wanted to jump him, tear that mask off his face and kiss him deeply, and yet another part was thinking the opposite.

"B-b-but….you don't even know me" Kaoru shuddered.

"that may be true…but ever since I saw you defend that man a few months ago, I was attracted by you….at first I though it was instincts….but I knew that that I was fascinated by your bravery and kind heart as well as your beauty……..your actions today made me even love you more" confessed Kenshin without thinking his sentences through. "I cant force you though…I will understand if you decline my offer, after all you haven't even seen my face….I will take you back to the village" said Kenshin not once breaking eye contact.

Kaoru was again silenced by his confession, it was like a dream come true she never ever picture this, just in her dreams, dreams that she thought would never come true.

"I-I-I- accept" whispered Kaoru but Kenshin was able to hear it.

"But you haven't seen my face yet….how can you accept?" asked Kenshin taken back by her answer, he never thought she would accept.

"That may be true…..however, I too always admired your braveness and even though I have never seen your face, I've………fallen in love with you too" confessed Kaoru.

"Kaoru….do you mean that?" asked Kenshin as he stood very closely to her.

"I do…with all my heart" she answered smiling

The next thing she knew, she found herself in a tight embrace, and Kenshin's arms were wrapped around her waist as he drew her close to his body.

"Thank you Kaoru…..for accepting me and for giving me a hope that I do have a chance of a normal life" whispered Kenshin in her ear. "You know that my life is dangerous and there is still a long time before I fully defeat Raijuta, you can change you mind if you want"

"no….I do want this….I want to stay by your side forever Kenshin…..I am not fear Raijuta…..just as long as your with me….I will never fear anyone for as long as I live" said Kaoru as he pulled away to see his face, but the mask was still covering it. She lifted her hands and fiddled with the hem of the mask.

"May I?" asked Kaoru anxiously as she locked eyes with her new fiancée.

"Of course" said Kenshin

She slowly began to lift the mask, slowly revealing his features to her, one at a time his neck, his mouth, his nose then finally she removed the mask fully from Kenshin's face as she gazed at the most handsome face she had ever seen.

Big violet eyes with swirls of amber in them, a cute nose, a firm lips, and a cross shaped scar that only made him even more attractive he was defiantly different that what Kaoru had imagined him to look like.

"Are you satisfied?" asked Kenshin

"Of course"

"I love you Kaoru"

"I love you too Kenshin"

Kenshin leaned his face closer to Kaoru as her eyes began to flutter close, her long eyelashes brushing Kenshin cheeks as he claimed her lips in his, sharing their first kiss both knowing that no matter what will stand in their way, nothing will ever stop their love from growing, they will never part and never have masks come in between them again.

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**A/N: wow that was the longest one-shot I've enter written, I hope you enjoyed it please review**

**I special thank you going out to my beta reader ****DeeKaui**** I love ya girl….your the greatest **


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